


Customer Crush

by thescatterbrain



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Bookstore AU, Drabble, Ficlet, M/M, its dumb and cute and i needed to write it, non magic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-25
Updated: 2015-12-25
Packaged: 2018-05-09 05:07:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 929
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5526566
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thescatterbrain/pseuds/thescatterbrain
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Harry owns a small bookstore, and is head over heels for a frequenting customer he had never formally met.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Customer Crush

Every Monday afternoon, the same man with an arrogant face, dark bags under his eyes, and platinum blonde hair came into the bookstore for a new science-fiction novel. Every Monday he walked in, browsed the shelves for roughly ten minutes before selecting a novel, and bought it with rolled up cash from within his pockets. 

Every Monday, Harry was falling for him faster and faster. He could not explain it. He had only spoken polite greetings to the man, and pulled up the receipt for the new book he was buying, but Harry was attracted to him. There was no denying it. All he was waiting for was an opening to talk to him about something. Being a bookstore owner should have made that easy-there were thousands of conversation topics in the form of paperback novels all around them. Yet the man somehow always managed to pick out a book Harry had never even heard of from the most obscure authors. Harry never knew what to say. His mouth would go dry every time the man came to the counter and his thoughts would swirl around in his head, saying he would make a fool of himself if he said so much as “How are you?”. 

It was Monday again, the second Monday of December. Most Decembers Harry’s shop either was overflowing with customers looking for a place to warm up as they bought stories for their friends and family for the holidays, or it was bone dry as everyone figured there were better gifts than books. No matter what kind of holiday season Harry was having, he could always count on his customer of a crush to show up, turned-up nose burrowed into a thick scarf and all. Harry smirked to himself as he watched the customer turn immediately to the science fiction and begin browsing. He was feeling particularly brave today, as the shop was empty save the two of them, so he sauntered up to the customer to make conversation.

As usual, Harry’s tongue dried up and his brain turned to mush as soon as he reached the man, so his first sentence came out, “Hargh eh?” instead of “How are you?”. The man stared at Harry with a mix of disgust and horror while Harry felt his face get hot. He coughed awkwardly and started over. 

“How are you, sir? I see you come in here often and am always amazed how you manage to find a new book to read every week.” _Much better,_ he thought to himself. 

The man had not responded yet. He was looking down at the novel he had picked up, half his face still buried in the scarf. He murmured something softly, but the words were lost in the thick folds of the scarf. Harry cocked his head to one side, confused. “What?” Then he corrected himself, “I mean, come again?” 

The man pulled the scarf away from his face. “The books are not for me,” he said, words rushed and angry. Harry had a feeling the anger was not directed at him, but rather the man getting defensive. “They’re-they’re for my mother. She eats these books up, and she seems to like this kind of genre, but I never really know what to get her so I just grab one I know I haven’t purchased yet.”

Harry brightened at the story. “That’s swell! I’m sure your mum appreciates you getting her books every week. Does she finish them that quickly?” he asked as he bent down to peruse the books on the lower shelves. 

“Yes. At least, she seems to. She asks me to get her a new book every week, so I come down here.”

“Mm-hmm,” Harry hummed, finding the book he was looking for. “Aha!” He straightened up and handed the man a small, thick book. “Try this one. It’s a classic.”

“ _20,000 Leagues Under the Sea,_ ” the man read. “I’ve never heard of it.”

“Seriously? Then you ought to read it as well as your mum. Mind blowing, this book is.” Harry said as he led the man to the register. The man nodded and put it on the counter. “My name’s Harry, by the way. Harry Potter.”

“Draco Malfoy,” the man said dryly. He gave a small smirk as he placed his cash on the counter next to the book. Harry smiled back, albeit more goofily, as he could put a name to the face he had been pining after. Harry began ringing up the book as he tried to come up with something clever to say. 

“So, Draco Malfoy, are you always spending time with your bookworm mum or do you get out sometimes? Because I was wondering if…” Harry’s throat tightened with nerves suddenly. He swallowed, thinking, _Suave. Be suave and smooth and charming_. “I’ve been meaning to ask for your number for a while. Would you like to get dinner sometime?”

Draco looked surprised, but a blush was coloring his pale cheeks and he was trying to hide a smile behind his scarf. “That would be nice, Potter.” He plucked a pen from the jar on the counter and took Harry’s hand in his own. Harry thought about how smooth his skin was, and that Draco’s hand was smaller than his so that it fit perfectly in his. Then Draco scrawled his number and address on Harry’s hand. 

“Pick me up at seven, on Wednesday. I know a place we can go.” With a small wink, Draco left the store, and a blushing Harry Potter slightly weak in the knees.


End file.
